"Do you guys get to attend the ball?" I asked Daria as she knelt to adjust the hem on my dress.
"No, but there is a small gathering for the servants in a different reception room. We will have plenty of fun this evening too, milady," She replied.
"And if you need anything," Maurice said from her supervising position next to my bed, "A footman will retrieve us."
"I won't need anything," I said. "I can handle a few hitches by myself. You guys enjoy your evening." I reached down to give Daria a hand up.
"You look absolutely stunning, Lady Kade," Daria said, gazing at me.
"Can I finally look?" I jokingly whined. Daria and Niva had dressed me under the intense supervision of Maurice and I had still not seen what I looked like. The dress was definitely heavier than the ones I normally wore and I could see that the skirts were a light blue. I hadn't been able to see anything else before Maurice grabbed my chin and forced me to look up. She wanted it to be a surprise.
"Oh, I suppose," Maurice said, stepping forward and smoothing down a lock of hair. She patted my cheek affectionately. Niva turned the full-length mirror toward me and I almost fell over. That couldn't be me.
The dress was strapless, with sapphires encrusting the neckline. The bodice was a dark blue with a pale blue stripe down the center. More gems bedecked the waistline and then the gown belled out. Embroidered flowers in whites, blues and purples danced across the skirts and the hem just touched the floor. Detached sleeves started right below my shoulder muscles and went to my elbow. Excess fabric hung from them almost to the floor.
But that wasn't everything. My black hair that was normally braided in a straight line down my back was elegantly done. Daria had taken the hair from above my ears and braided it on both sides until the braids met at the back of my head. Sapphire pins matching the gems on my dress were distributed through the braids. The necklace Niva had clasped around my neck was made of diamonds and sapphires on a silver chain.
"Oh," Was all I could get out of my gaping mouth. For once I looked like the princess that everyone thought I was.
"You look so pretty, Lady Kade," Niva said.
"Thank you," I replied, finally looking away from the mirror. I cleared my throat. "Thank you for making this dress for me. It is amazing."
"You make it so, milady," Daria beamed at me.
"Come on," Maurice interrupted. "If you don't get moving you'll be late for your own party."
"Shoes," Niva intervened. She held up a pair of blue slippers with sapphires on the toe. I sighed but slipped my feet into them and looked myself up and down.
"I am wearing a little bit of fabric with my sapphires," I said cheekily. "Is the queen not worried that I'll walk out the front doors of the castle and feed the poor for a year?"
"I suppose she believes that you know better now," Daria said quietly. Then she leaned forward and, using her body to block Maurice's view, slipped a knife and a strip of fabric into my hand. "Tie it to your leg, my lady, and then you'll have two." She gave a pointed look at my chest and I smiled. She must have seen the tiny knife I had clipped to my breast band.
"Thank you, Daria," I said. "One can never have too many knives."
She smiled at me, her eyes sparkling, and then pushed me toward the door.
"Get going," Maurice said, flapping a hand at me. "Out the door. And don't forget to make small talk while dancing. And don't forget to curtsy at the beginning and the end of each dance. And don't forget-" I slipped into the hall and closed the door before she could make me recite every single one of my lessons.
In the hallway I took a deep breath and resigned myself to the fact that I would have to dance with men I didn't know or like all evening.
"Kade?" Chale asked, stepping closer to me. Brinian had reassigned my guards to me for the week.
"One moment." I pulled up my skirt and leaned over. Chale and Emmett both spun around embarrassed to have seen so much of my leg. I tied the knife in its tiny sheath to my left thigh with a secure knot. It wouldn't do to have it come undone during the dancing. Dropping my skirts and smoothing them out, I turned back to Emmett and Chale.
"Ready?" Chale asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied dryly.
I had only been shown the ballroom once but I had easily memorized the route to it. I set off, my gait fast and purposeful. Chale and Emmett fell into place a half a step behind me on each side and flanked me as I went down a few staircases and then up again. They trailed me as I strode down many hallways and finally they stopped and stayed outside with the other guards as I knocked and entered a small sitting room located at the top of the stairs that descended into the great ballroom.
Marek came forward immediately. "Whoa, Kade. That dress is great! You look great."
I smiled at him and looked around. The king and queen were standing together, the colors of their attire complimentary. Their eyes were trained on me. "Alyssandra, you look worthy of being heir to the throne, and the whole kingdom will see it tonight," Peter said, his voice oddly rough.
"Wait, Peter," said Dionisa. "She's missing one thing."
"That's right," Peter replied. He motioned for a footman to come forward. The man was holding an intricate wooden box. The king motioned me forward. I stepped lightly and stopped in front of him.
Peter opened the box. Glistening on a velvet pillow was a crown. It was made of twisted silver and garnished with rounded diamonds and deep blue sapphires. Peter lifted it out of the box. "We had this made for you after you were born," He explained. When you returned, we had it resized. We want you to wear it tonight." I swallowed dryly and nodded. The king set the crown carefully on my head. It was heavier than I expected but fit comfortably. I noted that the way my hair had been done was perfect for the crown.
I glanced around the room. The footman gave a small bow. Dionisa smiled at me, her eyes glowing with unshed tears. Marek gave me a nod of approval. "A princess needs her crown, afterall," He said.
I cleared my throat. "Thank you, father. I hope to make you and mother proud." It was still weird calling them those terms of endearment but when they both smiled, my heart traitorously swelled at having made them both so happy.
I pinched my wrist hard. Focus, idiot, I thought. Don't get emotional. This will all be over soon.
The queen spoke, "My sweet, you are going to walk down with Marek after your father and I walk down. Timon here." She gestured to a footman immaculately clothed in the royal livery. "Will see to it that you know exactly when to begin. Make sure you are holding on to Marek's arm. Make us proud, Alyssandra." She stepped forward and put both hands on my cheeks to kiss my forehead. "You will steal all the young lords' hearts tonight, my daughter."
Dionisa turned to look at Peter. He gave a special smile meant only for her and offered his wife a white clad arm. She laid a hand on his arm and, her emerald skirts swirling, exited the room.
When the door opened I could hear music coming from downstairs and my heart leaped into my throat. Even Marek, who had done this a million times, looked tense.
"Your highnesses, please get ready and wait just outside the door. Your turn will come soon," Timon said, bowing. Marek offered me his arm and I put my hand on his. Unlike the queen's hand, mine wasn't perfectly smooth and white. My hand was tanned from a lifetime of living outside. A thick scar ran from between my knuckles almost to my wrist and tiny scars decorated my fingers. The calluses on my fingers and my palm caught at the smooth fabric of his dark blue dress tunic.
Marek led me into the hall. Guards stood on either side of the stairs. Their uniforms had never seemed so grand. Their black trousers and blue tunics with black trim were perfect and their swords and chainmail shirts were perfectly polished. Their black boots were oiled and shiny and each guard was tall and handsome. All men, I thought to myself. All of the guards in the entire castle are men. I'll have to speak to Brinian and get him to open the lists to women.
My thoughts spinning with a plan to get Brinian to agree to let women into the guard and into the army, I almost fell when Marek started walking forward. "Come on," he whispered urgently. "And stay on your feet."
I heard a footman addressing the crowd at the bottom of the stairs. "Prince Marek and Crown Princess Alyssandra."
The noise in the ballroom disappeared. It seemed as though even the palace held its breath. I imagined every jewel-bedecked head in the room turning to watch the stairs.
Marek led me to top of the staircase. He paused a moment and then began to descend. I kept up with him, step for step, and tried to stop the shaking in my arm. Images of tripping, falling all the way down the staircase and Marek and Peter and Dionisa and all of my siblings hating me for embarrassing them and sending me away, danced through my head. I took a ragged breath.
"Look over their heads," Marek whispered. "Don't meet anyone's eyes and don't look at your feet. I'll let you know when we reach the bottom."
I raised my head and straightened my spine. I started to chew on my lip and then stopped, remembering that everyone was looking at me and me alone.
Marek and I kept taking small measured steps down and I let my gaze dance over the painted walls of the ballroom and the sconces with candles. Windows reached from the floor almost to the ceiling two stories up. Couches and chairs around oval tables covered most of the area by the walls and, next to large doors that were propped open, two long tables with drinks and food stood. Servants stood unmoving by the walls, waiting for the party to begin.
Out of my peripheral vision, I could see colors and sparkles from gems and dresses but I forced myself not to look directly at anyone. Instead I focused my eyes back to the windows. Outside the sun was just beginning to set over the Royal Forest.
"Almost there," Marek whispered and I realized that the deafening silence from earlier had been replaced by anxious whispers.
"Last step." Marek turned left at the bottom of the stairs and took us over to where the queen and king stood side by side.
"Thank you all for joining us this evening." Dionisa began once Marek and I were next to her. I saw the younger princes and princesses standing on the other side of her and Peter. I winked at Cynthia. She gave me a tiny wave, but stopped abruptly when her twin elbowed her.
"I know that many of you had heard the rumors, " Dionisa said, "and came to see if such a thing were true. Had Princess Alyssandra truly been found? Tonight you see that the impossible has come true." She gestured toward me. "Our daughter safely returned to us."
Clapping filled the room. The queen waited patiently for the noise to fade. "Many of you will be curious to hear what happened to our daughter during the kidnapping and in the years after. I ask that you be respectful and are not intrusive. Alyssandra may choose to answer your questions, but please be respectful." I may choose to answer questions? What would people think if I didn't answer their questions?
"Once again, thank you for your attendance and please, lets have a wonderful night."
At that note, the musicians in the corner struck up a lively tune and the king pulled the queen out onto the floor. Marek took my hand and pulled. When I gave him a look, he said, "We have to. Only one dance though."
I made a face and allowed him to tug me into the middle of the floor. He bowed to me and I curtsied back. Maurice would have been proud. Taking my hand, we set off. I glimpsed the king and queen over his shoulder occasionally and some other couples but most people were standing along the edge of the room and watching. Watching me.
"Why isn't anyone else dancing?" I said softly.
"They are too curious about you."
"I don't want them to be curious about me," I complained.
"Then you should have been born into a different family," he said. I was, I thought. But his words had shut me up.
The song felt like it lasted forever. The weight of all those eyes on me stretched every second into an hour and every minute into a day.
Finally, when the song was winding down, it struck me as funny that all of these rich and privileged people were hung up on a skinny girl that used to be an orphan begging on the streets. I choked back a hysterical chuckle and twirled one last time. Marek bowed and I curtsied. My brother led me toward a couch on the side of the room, collectively every head in the room turned to follow my path. I sat and stared out across the room, meeting many eyes. Half the people turned, embarrassed to have been caught staring. The other half stared right back, unashamed.